Stephanie Castorhttp://www.guitarworld.com/taxonomy/term/2441/all
enInterview: Alex Reed and Jason Lancaster of Go Radio Discuss ‘Close the Distance’http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-alex-reed-and-jason-lancaster-go-radio-discuss-close-distance
<!--paging_filter--><p>For a band that likes to stay busy, it can sometimes be difficult for members to take a step back and reflect on what they’ve created and the progress they've made. </p>
<p>Tallahassee-based Go Radio have hit the ground running between the release of their new album, <em>Close the Distance</em> (which was released September 18 via Fearless Records), and their upcoming #GoToHell Tour with supporting acts Paradise Fears and Stages &amp; Stereos.</p>
<p>Guitarists Alex Reed and Jason Lancaster recently took some time out to tell GuitarWorld.com about the new album, their influences and their writing philosophy.</p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: It's been a busy year for you guys. You had a headlining tour in May, recorded an album, went on tour with the SafetySuit and are touring again in support of the new record. What can we expect after this fall/winter? Do you anticipate some downtime?</strong></p>
<p>ALEX REED: As you've already pointed out, we like to stay pretty busy! I anticipate after the holidays that we will hit it full throttle again and get back on the road. I think I speak for everybody in the band when I say that being on the road is our most comfortable and favorite setting. Getting in front of our fans and actually performing the new record is our highest priority.</p>
<p>JASON LANCASTER: We really just want to reach as many ears as possible. We're so proud of <em>Close the Distance</em> and its message, and we want everyone to know about it. </p>
<p><strong>There are a lot of indie-folk and acoustic elements to <em>Close the Distance</em>. What led to this softer and more eloquent side of you guys?</strong></p>
<p>REED: I’m glad you noticed that! It might surprise a lot of people, but the majority of our songs actually do start off as more of an indie/folk acoustic styling. Between the four of us we listen to a very wide variety of different kinds of music, so we definitely pull influence from a lot of genres. For me, this record was the most natural progression we've made. Our fans have always connected with our softer, more ballad-heavy songs, and this time around it’s just what was coming out. We've grown up a lot and had a lot happen in our lives. These songs and the overall vibe of the record are a pretty accurate representation of what has gone on in our lives the last couple of years.</p>
<p>LANCASTER: We've always been fans of those genres, but we never really had a way to incorporate any of those styles into our music. We got that chance on this album, and it was really exciting to open the doors to all the different sides of music that we hadn't expanded into yet.</p>
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<p><strong>How and when did you both begin playing guitar? Who were your early influences, and can we hear these influences on the new record?</strong></p>
<p>REED: I started playing guitar when I was 13. The first time I really remember taking an active interest in the guitar was when I started going to a different and more contemporary church. Instead of a choir they had a worship band. They use to play all these really cool rock versions of songs, and I remember just thinking how cool it would be to be on that stage. Within a year, I made it into the worship band [laughs]. You could say I was pretty determined. My biggest and earliest influences were my parents. They are both professional classical musicians as well as orchestra teachers in my hometown. They got me started on piano and cello when I was a toddler, and that made it so much easier to pick up the guitar later on. The album is very piano and string driven and having that background is something that constantly influences my writing.</p>
<p>LANCASTER: I started playing when I was 9. My Dad got me my first guitar and I have played ever since. I grew up on a lot of really great Southern rock. Things like Eric Clapton, SRV and the Allman Brothers were always around my house, and they always had a massive impact on my style of playing. I hope you can hear that in the things I play, because it's always been something I've been really proud of.</p>
<p><strong>Tell me a little about your writing process. Is it a collaborative effort, or does one person write something and bring it to the table for everyone else to chime in? I want to know how you guys fuse together.</strong></p>
<p>REED: I think we really found our groove as a group in the <em>Close The Distance</em> writing process. Like I said earlier, we are constantly evolving and growing, as people and musicians, but this time around was the smoothest process yet. In the early stages of writing we spent about a month putting together ideas and writing individually. I was in Philadelphia and the rest of the guys were scattered throughout Florida in the time off. We would shoot each other demos back and forth through email. </p>
<p>About a month prior to heading into pre-production with James Paul Wisner, we all got back together in Tallahassee at our home studio and starting molding these songs into actual songs. We kind of locked ourselves up for four weeks working ten-hour days, six days a week. Sometimes a song would spark from a chord progression. Jason would play on the piano and we would just build it from the ground up and run with it. Other times, somebody had a bit more of a conceptualized idea and everyone would add their two cents. From vocal melodies to actual drum parts, everybody was heavily involved with every aspect of these songs. I think you can hear that we were really on the same page on <em>Close The Distance</em> this time around.</p>
<p>LANCASTER: We started from scratch on this record. We made a point to keep everything band based, and we would start with whatever was closest. Sometimes a guitar, and sometimes a piano. There are even songs on the record that started with drum beats.</p>
<p><strong>Tell me about your gear. What was used to record vs. what you tour with?</strong></p>
<p>REED: I play a Gibson Les Paul Standard through a New Vintage H&amp;B 50 amplifier and a New Vintage 4x12 cabinet. New Vintage Amps is a company based out of Duluth, Minnesota, who we recently started working with. They are probably some of the best-sounding amps I have ever heard and they work with the likes of Mark Hoppus, OneRepublic and 3 Doors Down. In fact, we started our relationship with them about three-quarters of the way through the tracking process of <em>Close The Distance</em>, and when they sent us a test model to the studio, we ended up going back and re-tracking a handful of parts. </p>
<p>We also have a pretty cool relationship with Gibson. We use a lot more variety of guitars in the studio than we are able to live, but I think more often than not, that’s the case. As far as live, we really rep New Vintage and Gibson across the board.</p>
<p>LANCASTER: I play a collection of different Fender and Gibson guitars. My baby right now is a 1960s Goldtop reissue. I play through a New Vintage H&amp;B 50. It's an amazing head.</p>
<p><strong>How did you guys see <em>Close the Distance</em> as you were writing it? Did you anticipate the record to be as lush and radio-ready as it is?</strong></p>
<p>REED: We absolutely had a goal with the record. With our previous records, I don't think we ever focused in on a certain direction, and with this one there was definitely more of a vision. That being said, I don't think there is ever really a way to know exactly what you’re accomplishing as far as the big picture goes. Songs change so much in the tracking process and you kind of have to let them take their own path as you go. </p>
<p>LANCASTER: I didn't, personally. I wanted to write something honest that was going to make a difference in someone’s life.</p>
<p><strong>What is your philosophy behind writing music? Do you go for the overall "good song," or do you write with certain intentions? Is it ever a stream-of-consciousness process?</strong></p>
<p>REED: Write what comes from the heart. That is my only consistent philosophy with writing. Of course, I would like every song to be a "good song," but you have to allow room for the bad songs too; they make the good ones better. Sometimes I'll write a super folk-heavy song, and sometimes I'll write a super ambient-heavy song, but it’s when the four of us get into the same room that they become actual "Go Radio" songs. </p>
<p>LANCASTER: A song has to be honest. It has to be real and it has to make waves</p>
<p><em>For more information about the band, visit their <a href="http://www.wearegoradio.com">official website</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/goradio?fref=ts">Facebook page.</a></em></p>
http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-alex-reed-and-jason-lancaster-go-radio-discuss-close-distance#commentsGo RadioStephanie CastorInterviewsFeaturesFri, 19 Oct 2012 16:50:18 +0000Stephanie Castor17003 at http://www.guitarworld.comInterview: Pig Destroyer Guitarist Scott Hull Discusses ‘Book Burner,’ Gear and Morehttp://www.guitarworld.com/interview-pig-destroyer-guitarist-scott-hull-discusses-book-burner-gear-and-more
<!--paging_filter--><p>In a struggling economy, it becomes harder and harder for musicians of all calibers and genres to maintain successful careers as touring and recording artists. Raising a family — and maybe even working a day job — can work their way up the priority list and leave little room for flexibility.</p>
<p>Through trial and error, Pig Destroyer guitarist Scott Hull has found his balance. </p>
<p>The Alexandria, Virginia-based grindcore band is scheduled to release <em>Book Burner</em>, their first full-length album in five years, October 22 via Relapse Records. Between fatherhood, marriage, lineup changes, construction of the fully functioning Pig Destroyer studio and rehearsal space, and gearing up for the launch of <em>Book Burner</em>, Hull continues to spout energy for one of the things he loves most: ugly, fast, loud music.</p>
<p>We recently chatted about gear, the new album and life in general.</p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: How and when did you originally take up an interest in guitar?</strong></p>
<p>I was introduced to guitar very early on. I picked it up when I was 7, around 1978. My main interests for guitar were AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, a lot of the heavier rock at the time. I kind of learned by emulating those bands. I had lessons and whatnot, but I spent more time trying to figure out songs I liked from those bands, more than just music theory. </p>
<p><strong><em>Book Burner</em> is your fifth album and possibly your most refined. What spawned an album with 19 brief songs mirroring qualities of '80s hardcore?</strong></p>
<p><em>Book Burner</em> is more of a return to where we started. We started out as a super-ugly and fast grindcore band where all the songs were short and had a very flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, improvised feel. <em>Book Burner</em> is more of a return to <em>Explosions in Ward 6</em>. That’s probably because there was such a long period of time between albums, so we felt the need to sort of go back and revisit what we started the band for, and the stuff the originally inspired us to play in Pig Destroyer. Getting a new drummer — Adam Jarvis from Misery Index — inspired us to go back to a shorter, faster and louder demo that we prided ourselves in early on. </p>
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<p><strong>Why was there such a long gap — five years — between <em>Phantom Limb</em> and <em>Book Burner</em>?</strong></p>
<p>A lot of things came into play. I had another child, and we had to get out of the practice place that we had been in since 1997. We actually had to build a studio that would also serve as our rehearsal space, and that sounds trivial, but it’s definitely not. We built it from the ground up, and it’s a fully functional soundproof studio with an acoustically treated live room and a control room. </p>
<p>We spent a lot of time building the studio, and then we had internal issues with our drummer that we had to go through. Once you’ve had somebody in your band for a long period of time — in our case, 13 years — it’s kind of hard to come to the realization that someone has to go. When Adam [Jarvis] joined the band, he had extensive touring commitments with Misery Index, so that lasted about a year. To add all of that stuff up, it’s not surprising it took us so long to come out with <em>Book Burner</em>.</p>
<p><strong>How do you balance your family life with being a professional musician, especially since recording this new album?</strong></p>
<p>There is definitely a lot of juggling that goes on, and there also has to be a lot of understanding and patience from my family to give me the time and space to do it. Then, of course, there's the sheer amount of energy you have to muster to maintain a career and your fans and to keep all of this stuff pushing forward. </p>
<p>Thankfully, I’ve got a lot of energy in me and a lot of fire to drive it forward. I’ve also got a great family, a family that affords me the flexibility to do all this stuff. It’s difficult, and that’s also why things take a little bit longer to get done. We don’t want stuff to be half-assed. We want to make sure we spend enough time to do things exactly the way we want. There is room and time for everything. You just might not be able to spend a whole week doing something you want to do.</p>
<p><strong>What do you think of current metal trends? Bands seem to be fluctuating between pop hooks and dubstep, and then they'll throw in some deathcore elements. As someone who has been in the same band for 15 years, what's your take on the current state of the scene?</strong></p>
<p>I understand that. There are examples of all these different forms of metal and extreme music that I think are good and that work, and there are some from the very same kinds of music I don’t like very much. I don’t like to rag on bands, because no matter what kind of band you are, you’re trying. And that’s better than not being in a band, you know? </p>
<p>I hate to disparage anybody from doing something that I might not typically like, but as long as things are moving forward and people keep doing things that are progressive and interesting, I like The Acacia Strain a lot. I think they’re very heavy and great, but I know a lot of people that probably wouldn’t like them because they’re metalcore-ish or whatever. I think people should be able to think what they want to think and not have to justify it.</p>
<p><strong>Tell me about your gear and any endorsements you might have.</strong></p>
<p>Yeah, I really owe my endorsement companies some props. I sort of renovated my signal flow for two reasons. First, because I wanted to change my sound, and second, because I wanted to be able to streamline my ability to travel with a minimal amount of backline required. That means I’d like to be able to travel with my own head, my own preamp and my own guitars. As you might imagine, if I were to take a typical guitar head or a big, heavy power block power amp, that stuff gets prohibitively expensive, especially with airline baggage fees. </p>
<p>Matrix Amplification is a company out of the UK that makes these very small but extremely powerful power amps, and I have one rack mount station called the GT800FX. It’s a 1,000-watt harness power amp that is about 10 pounds, but that means you can actually carry this thing onto the plane and travel anywhere in the world without having to check it. As any touring musician knows, once you check something, it gets destroyed. Not only is a fantastic sounding amp, it’s the one amp a lot of people use with the Fractal Audio guitar processor called the Axe-Fx, and it’s the one most regarded in the industry as an amp modeler. It’s purely preamp, but it’s the one processor that a lot of people hook up with the Matrix power amp to create their main rig. </p>
<p>I don’t use Fractal Audio yet, but I use the TightMetal pedal from Amptweaker. It’s a great pedal made by a guy named James Brown who worked for Peavey and helped them to develop the 5150 back in the '80s. I use Vader cabinets. I’ve been using them for about 10 years, close to when they started.</p>
<p><em>Keep up with Pig Destroyer on their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TheRealPigDestroyer">Facebook page.</a></em></p>
http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-pig-destroyer-guitarist-scott-hull-discusses-book-burner-gear-and-more#commentsPig DestroyerScott HullStephanie CastorInterviewsFeaturesWed, 17 Oct 2012 16:42:57 +0000Stephanie Castor16982 at http://www.guitarworld.comInterview: Black Light Burns Frontman Wes Borland Talks New Album, Gear and Experimentationhttp://www.guitarworld.com/interview-black-light-burns-frontman-wes-borland-talks-new-album-gear-and-experimentation
<!--paging_filter--><p>Black Light Burns, the Los Angeles-based quartet fronted by Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, released their sophomore album, <em>The Moment You Realize You’re Going to Fall</em>, August 13 via Rocket Science/THC Records. </p>
<p>Amid preparation for a fall tour with Psychostick and The Witch Was Right, Borland sat down to discuss the new album, gear, sonic experimentation and a lot more.</p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: Given your history in visual arts, does music travel similarly through your mind? When writing and producing, what do you see? Math and numbers? Colors and movement?</strong></p>
<p>First, I’m sort of thinking about a lot of different things that have happened in my life as well as different cinematic landscapes or ideas. I’ll think about a lot of things I’ve seen recently, because I am a painter too. I’m always looking at other artists and trying to get inspired by different things. I just collect images from clippings from magazines or whatever. </p>
<p>I’ll sort of think about all of these things and start writing, and I think a lot of these visuals inspire me to think about what those images would sound like. Like, I know how it looks, but how does it sound? And I do that a lot as far as trying to paint things that I hear and make music that I see, I guess. </p>
<p>They kind of go back and forth and cross over into each other. It’s never about math. Ever. I’ve never really been schooled in music theory. I’m a guitar player, and I attack the guitar in a certain way that it not fully unique to me, but it’s more unique that some other people. I’m not a shredder, and I’ve never aspired to be a virtuoso player. I’ve always wanted to be a songwriter and a storyteller and somebody who conveys a feeling to the listener or the viewer.</p>
<p><strong>As Black Light Burns and Limp Bizkit progress, do you find it more difficult to keep stylistic differences separate?</strong></p>
<p>Not really, especially because they’re progressing further and further away from each other all the time. I feel like Limp Bizkit is going in a direction that allows me to access some wild and experimental elements of myself, but it is primarily aggressive hip-hop/rock/pop music. The feeling of it is more of a party and is, musically, how I’d spend my Saturday night [laughs]. </p>
<p>Like if I was with a bunch of people in Manhattan that wanted to go bar-hopping, it’s something I would normally do with Limp Bizkit, but it’s more of a light-hearted good time, whereas with Black Like Burns it’s more so like opening my chest up and vomiting out all of my emotions. </p>
<p>I won’t say Black Light is completely a mourning experience. It’s not a funeral. Our shows are definitely fun, and we are light-hearted about having a good time as far as when we play and put 100 percent into all of our shows. It’s still born out of despair and emotion. That’s the heart of it, and our albums get more and more experimental all the time. </p>
<p>I don’t think it’s hard; I think the first record, <em>Cruel Melody</em>, overlapped a bit with Limp Bizkit, but now if I write something that’s more experimental, I’ll pitch it to Black Light. The same goes for Limp Bizkit if I write something that is a bit more poppy and commercial sounding. Now they are just getting further and further apart.</p>
<p>To have people react to a song and just know it is so flooring. It is such an incredible feeling. It never gets old, either. Even with really old songs with Bizkit. We could be performing some of the first songs we’ve ever written together in front of an audience and have them react, and they’re still like, “Wow.” I’m sick of the song, but they make me not sick of it, you know? It’s like watching one of your favorite movies with someone who has never seen it before. </p>
<p>When playing any song in front of an audience, you’re watching them experience it, and it changes. In a lot of ways, it’s almost like the music is just the background buzz to what’s happening between you and the audience in the room.</p>
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<p><strong>What different guitars, amps, effects and various instruments were used for the recording of <em>The Moment You Realize You’re Going to Fall</em>?</strong></p>
<p>We used a 1964 Gibson Thunderbird bass and an Ovation Magnum II, which is one of the only good things Ovation has ever done as a company, and they stopped doing it. It’s a really weird-looking bass, but it’s got a unique sound, and I just love them for some reason. They are really weird, and I guess they were just a failure at the time. I tend to gravitate toward instruments that were failures and that they stopped making because they don’t sound like a PRS or Les Paul. It’s something so different.</p>
<p>For the guitars, I think it was mostly Telecasters for the neck pickup position, a Hagstrom 3, an old Teisco Japanese Jaguar sort of guitar that sounds really nuts and has a bunch of electronic problems but it's really rowdy. I really wanted to make a record that was heavy but not metal. I wanted a lot the heaviness to be in the bass and have the guitars be more of a bite-y rock sound. I think that worked out. </p>
<p>We used a lot of little amps, a bunch of 10-inch-speaker Epiphone and Gibson amps as well as a couple Fender amps. We were using a lot of Zvex pedals that are just kind of unruly and have a bunch of different types of fuzz. We were just experimenting a lot and chaining a bunch of stuff together. One pedal that was really cool was a green pedal called the Bag of Dicks. It actually comes in a paper bag [laughs]. </p>
<p>I think I found it at Tour Supply in LA. That thing just generates constant noise if you’re not playing through it. It only had two knobs, gain and volume, but somehow it just had all of these different positions you could put them in that just did terrible things. It was just like, “Why is that happening?” and “I don’t know why it’s happening, but hit record!” </p>
<p>There was a lot of that kind of stuff going on as far as experimentation, but it was really fun. A lot of it is improvised, even to the point of sampling circuit bent toys. We were careful about experimenting. It was controlled and edited. It wasn’t like we said, “Oh, we’re gonna go fart in a buck and record it.”</p>
<p><strong>Many people will argue that anyone can pick up an instrument and learn how to play. You've always incorporated visual aesthetics and unconventionality into your music. How would your differentiate an artist from a musician?</strong></p>
<p>I think there are people who aren’t artists who are musicians, and I think there are people who aren’t musicians that are artists. There are people who are both, but I don’t feel like there are things that are created from musicians. There are people who are amazing violinists, but they don’t really write very much. Or when they do write it all falls into these parameters that they’ve been taught -- sequences. It’s the mathematical thing we talked about. Musicians can tend to get mathematical and just go, “Here you go. Sounds great.” </p>
<p>That works well for scoring film, but I think that a lot of those people don’t have a screw loose, and maybe that’s the difference. Maybe artists have something inherently wrong with their brains and musicians don’t. Artists have this handicap [laughs], and that’s what makes them somehow digest things and spit them out in a way that only makes sense to some people.</p>
<p><em>Keep up with Black Light Burns at their <a href="http://blacklightburnsofficial.com/">official website</a> and <a href="BlackLightBurnsOfficial">Facebook page.</a></em></p>
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<fieldset class="fieldgroup group-additional-content"><legend>Additional Content</legend><div class="field field-type-nodereference field-field-related-artist">
<div class="field-label"><p><strong>Related Artist:</strong>&nbsp;<p></div>
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<a href="/limp-bizkit">Limp Bizkit</a> </div>
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http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-black-light-burns-frontman-wes-borland-talks-new-album-gear-and-experimentation#commentsBlack Light BurnsLimp BizkitStephanie CastorWes BorlandInterviewsFeaturesTue, 18 Sep 2012 12:10:19 +0000Stephanie Castor16758 at http://www.guitarworld.comInterview: Lostprophets Guitarist Mike Lewis Discusses ‘Weapons’ and Warped Tour 2012http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-lostprophets-guitarist-mike-lewis-discusses-weapons-and-warped-tour-2012
<!--paging_filter--><p>It's been roughly six years since Welsh band Lostprophets last set foot on U.S. soil. </p>
<p>Now, on the heels of the June 19 release of their new album, <em>Weapons</em> (Buy it on <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/weapons-deluxe-edition/id528760763">iTunes</a>), on Fearless Records, Lostprophets fans are about to get a much-needed dose of the band on the second half of this year’s Warped Tour, which kicks off July 12.</p>
<p>GuitarWorld.com sat down with Lostprophets guitarist Mike Lewis who discussed the band's writing process, his take on music industry trends and what fans can expect from them on Warped Tour. </p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: Your new album, <em>Weapons</em>. has been out in the UK since April and was released here on June 19. How have fans taken to the band’s musical progression since 2010's <em>Betrayed</em>?</strong></p>
<p>I think a lot of people are really into it. A lot of people have said it has kind of gone back a little bit more toward the <em>Start Something</em> sound, which a lot of people are really excited by. It was something that kind of happened by accident as well. When we wrote this record, we didn’t plan what it was going to sound like and just let it happen organically. It just turned out that way, so I think a lot of people are big into that.</p>
<p><strong>In what specific ways would you say your personal style of writing and playing has developed since your debut full-length, <em>Start Something</em>, and how can we hear that on the new album?</strong></p>
<p>Oh my god. I think that album was a very naïve album. We really had no idea what we were doing. We were just throwing songs together and not really thinking about song structures per se, you know? I guess we’ve learned how to write songs since then, if that makes sense. We learned a lot about structures, what works, how to build a song, dynamics, and all of that which is something that maybe doesn’t happen naturally when you begin a band. </p>
<p>The five of us have been writing songs together for close to fifteen years now, and our drummer has changed, but you get to know each other and read each other so much. When we’re jamming, it’s almost like you know where Stu is going to go on the bass. When we’re playing, I am more of a rhythm guitar player, and Lee is more of a lead guitar player, and we know what our roles are. We are just very comfortable with each other now.</p>
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<p><strong>You began playing bass for Lostprophets in 1997 and switched to rhythm guitar in 1999. Did playing bass have an effect on how you play guitar or how you hear the structures in your songs?</strong></p>
<p>It was actually the other way around, to be honest. I was a guitar player first, and I played guitar in a hardcore band. I’ve known Ian and Lee forever. When their old band broke up, they started Lostprophets. They didn’t have a bass player, so I was like, “Oh, I can play bass.” Being a guitar player — that’s going to sound really disrespectful to bassists [laughs] — but generally, if you can play guitar then you can play bass, or vice versa. </p>
<p>When I played bass in the band that was a very different approach to me. I was not the best bassist in the world, being a guitar player, and we knew Stu who was very good at bass, so Stu came in and played. I switched back to guitar, and we were only a four-piece at that point in time. We kind of decided that we needed another guitar, so that’s when we decided that I would play rhythm guitar. I love bass, and I think that bass and guitar are two very different instruments with very different ways of playing.</p>
<p><strong>What is currently influencing the band, and who have been some of your personal musical interests over the years?</strong></p>
<p>I would think that for the new album we kind of tried to — it’s a difficult thing to do — but not think about any influences. I think that was one of the only conscious things that we thought about. We just wanted to get in and write a Lostprophets record. </p>
<p>Once you’ve written four albums, and we were writing our fifth, you kind of get to that point. You think about that point when you’re first starting a band and how you’re developing and using other influences to help you, but I think that as we’ve progressed, we kind of know how we sound and have our own way of working. With this record we just wanted to be Lostprophets. We brought in some different elements from electronic influences, but it was really only on one song. </p>
<p><strong>You guys have been a band for about 15 years, and you are being featured on this year’s Warped Tour. Are you at all hesitant to play older material in light of the new release, or can fans expect some old favorites?</strong></p>
<p>It is our first time on Warped Tour, but we’ve seen a lot of bands on festivals. When you see a band on a festival, you want to see them play the hits, you know? I want to see a band play the songs that I know. On Warped Tour, we have a half-hour slot, so we just want to get out there and play the songs that people know—maybe people haven’t picked up the new record yet, but maybe they have some of our earlier ones. </p>
<p>We’re going to go out there and play songs from all of our records, so people can expect “Last Train Home” and “Rooftops.” People are going to want to hear those, and we want them to come out and have a good time with us when they see us, so we’re definitely going to play the crowd favorites.</p>
<p><strong>You have some tour dates coming up, aside from Warped Tour, which take place in Europe and in the UK in the fall. When can we expect another North American tour — perhaps a headliner?</strong></p>
<p>We’re only on the second half of Warped Tour, so we’re really only going to be playing on the East Coast and a little in the Midwest. I think we’re going to try and work it out to do some California shows and some West Coast shows in August. We’re hoping to come back in the fall and maybe do a tour — it’s not worked out yet, but that’s what we’d like to do if we can make it happen. Fingers crossed. We haven’t toured in America since 2006, so we’re all really excited.</p>
<p><strong>What gear did you use to record the album to achieve that “big anthemic rock” sound? Are you an effects junkie?</strong></p>
<p>Our producer, Ken Andrews, wanted us to use all of our own gear. Sometimes you go into the studio and the producer’s got a wall of amps that he wants you to use and whatever — Ken was really kind of keen on us using our own amps. I think it’s a little different now as well. We’ve got five albums under our belt, so I think we kind of know what sounds good. </p>
<p>I used an Orange Thunderbird head for my main distortion sound, and then a Blackstar Artisan 30 for all of my clean stuff, and I used it for a semi-distortion sound as well. I used a Blackstar HT-Dual pedal, which is like a distortion and sort of tube screamer-ish pedal. I have a Gibson Les Paul that sounds great — it’s not a vintage one or anything crazy like that. On a couple of parts I used a hollow-body Rickenbacker. </p>
<p>Other than that, it was mainly my Les Paul through my Thunderbird. I’m not crazy on effects. Lee is Captain Effects. He actually just scaled his pedal board back down a little bit. It was getting out of control [laughs]. He uses a lot of delays, chorus and phasers. He does a lot of stuff with filters as well. I’m more of just a straight-ahead guitar player. I mainly just plug a guitar into an amp. I grew up listening to thrash metal and punk rock [laughs].</p>
<p><strong>What is your take on the current rock music scene, especially that among the bands on Warped Tour 2012? What do you envision to be the next step in musical trends?</strong></p>
<p>I don’t know. Obviously it started a while ago, but everything is just so cross-genre these days. Dubstep is huge now, and artists like Skrillex are obviously attracting a massive rock crowd as well. We just did a UK tour, and we brought along a dubstep act as our support, and kids loved them. </p>
<p>They had an immediate reaction from the kids who came to the show. I’d never seen anything like it. For a band that nobody in the audience knows, they had the place going crazy within a couple of minutes. It was nuts to see. It was kind of neat to see, because obviously it was a rock crowd going crazy for this dance music, which I personally think it awesome. </p>
<p>I listen to everything from '60s soul music to grindcore. That’s just the way it’s going now. Boundaries are coming down all over the place, and sometime it’s done very well, and sometimes it’s done very badly, quite unfortunately [laughs]. I think that the way it’s going now, you know? People are just trying to do something a little different, and it’s cool because I think people are becoming more and more open-minded to that, which is great.</p>
<p><em>Keep up with the band at their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/lostprophets">Facebook page</a> and <a href="http://lostprophets.com/">official website</a>. Buy </em>Weapons<em> on iTunes <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/weapons-deluxe-edition/id528760763">here.</a></em></p>
http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-lostprophets-guitarist-mike-lewis-discusses-weapons-and-warped-tour-2012#commentsLostprophetsMike LewisStephanie CastorInterviewsFeaturesFri, 06 Jul 2012 19:20:51 +0000Stephanie Castor16221 at http://www.guitarworld.comInterview: Civil Twilight Guitarist Andrew McKellar Discusses Gear and ‘Holy Weather’http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-civil-twilight-guitarist-andrew-mckellar-discusses-gear-and-holy-weather
<!--paging_filter--><p>Civil Twilight released their new album, <em>Holy Weather</em> (<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/holy-weather/id496556221">Buy it on iTunes</a>), March 26 on Wind-Up Records.</p>
<p>The album, the sophomore full-length by the electro-alternative three-piece band from Cape Town, South Africa, is packed with lush guitars, dense bass, percussion and silky vocal harmonies. </p>
<p>Civil Twilight guitarist Andrew McKellar recently sat down to discuss the beauty of simplicity, the band’s cultural heritage and the speed with which they recorded <em>Holy Weather</em>.</p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: What was the inspiration behind <em>Holy Weather</em>? Tell me a little bit about the philosophy and drive behind it.</strong></p>
<p>We had a few habits we wanted to break on the new record. We did a lot of jamming on the first record, so we kind of wanted to challenge ourselves a little bit and try something new. For me, it was getting rid of a lot of pedals. I use a lot of delay, so I wanted to try to smooth out the sound of all of it. We also started listening to a lot of electronic British music. We basically wanted to simplify things and get things more compressed as well as just challenge ourselves with stuff we’ve never done before.</p>
<p><strong>A lot of people have compared Civil Twilight to Muse and U2, so it's interesting that your intention was to simplify your sound, given that U2 are very delay-heavy and use a good deal of technology. Who are your personal influences, and what were you listening to before writing and recording the new album?</strong></p>
<p>Oh wow. It’s funny — I’m not actually even a U2 fan [laughs]. I guess they influence a lot of bands, because they started that whole shoegaze sound, in a sense. Anyway, I was listening to a lot of The National, a band from New York. I was listening to Metronomy from England, some Chairlift; a little more of those kind of indie-British bands are what inspired me a little bit.</p>
<p><strong><em>Holy Weather</em> is an album with a rare quality: It flows to the extent that if interrupted while listening to it, one almost has to start the entire album over rather than continuing where they left off. The album is a sequence. How did you go about creating something like this? What it written in a specific order?</strong></p>
<p>We had been touring a lot last year and never really had much time to write, so we pretty much wrote the whole record within the span of about two weeks. Maybe that had something to do with it. We just had a very small window of our lives just captured. We recorded really quickly as well. In London we recorded a song a day from start to finish. We wanted to make big decisions very quickly and just get it done so that by the end of the day, we had a final product and could listen to it.</p>
<p>It was one of the best ways to work, because you don’t second-guess yourself. You just commit to an idea. That might be one of the reasons for it flowing so well.</p>
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<p><strong>You guys are originally from South Africa. Are there any elements of South African culture that come through on this album?</strong></p>
<p>I think it comes through subconsciously, for sure. We were listening to a lot of British music, because we have one radio station in Africa that would play music — rock music at the very least. There was no way of hearing music from the rest of the world, so we would hear a lot of British bands. We were definitely influenced by it. </p>
<p>You’re not really conscious of it. It’s just something that inspires you and comes through your sweat and hard work. You don’t really make an effort to be like someone else. We were inspired a lot by African jazz, just things that are all around you when you live in a third-world country, you know? I think we can’t really escape it. It’s something we got inspired by at a really early age. Hearing local music — it’s just so simple and part of our blood, I guess. </p>
<p><strong>Tell me a little bit about the writing process, especially with having a close relative — your brother — in the band. What are the dynamics between you guys?</strong></p>
<p>We actually really love each other and respect each other. I think it helps that we’re so different. He is definitely the most talented musician in the band, and he has the amazing ability to listen to something and capture it very quickly. I play more out of emotion, so we kind of feed off of each other. We bicker, but that’s just part of being brothers [laughs]. We’re best friends in a sense. </p>
<p>As far as writing this record, he actually did a lot of it himself. He writes when we have short breaks from the road. He gets on a computer and arranges the bass and drum parts, and we all chime in later, unlike the first record, which was all of us just jamming in a room.</p>
<p><strong>A lot of bands are writing music on their laptops. Do you think technology has benefitted the band and maybe also removed some of the authenticity of the writing process?</strong></p>
<p>That’s a great question. Wow. It’s interesting to me. We recently got a lot of new gear, and in a sense we’ve just complicated a lot of things [laughs]. Some of my favorite shows, to be honest, are when we all just plug into the nearest amp and just put on a show. I think it’s all new for us; some kids grow up on the computer and understand it so well from the beginning. There’s a science to the way they write music. We’ve always just jammed. That’s part of our instinct. It’s helped a little bit, but I think that sometimes simpler is better.</p>
<p><strong>Speaking of new gear, what are your preferences as of right now?</strong></p>
<p>I change it up all the time, but I use a Strymon Timeline delay. It’s really cool. I am also using the blueSky reverb pedal. I have a POG, and I have an old Rat pedal I’ve been using for a few years. </p>
<p>As far as guitars go, I have an old ’79 Gibson Deluxe, which is one of my favorites. Some crazy fan gave me a ’72 Jaguar, which sounds pretty rad too. I also use a Tele Deluxe for the humbuckers.</p>
<p><em>Keep up with Civil Twilight at their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/CivilTwilight">Facebook page</a> and <a href="http://stream.civiltwilightband.com/">official website.</a> You also can stream <em>Holy Weather</em> at civiltwilightband.com and <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/holy-weather/id496556221">buy it on iTunes here</a>.</em></p>
http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-civil-twilight-guitarist-andrew-mckellar-discusses-gear-and-holy-weather#commentsAndrew McKellarCivil TwilightStephanie CastorInterviewsFeaturesTue, 03 Jul 2012 14:17:08 +0000Stephanie Castor16188 at http://www.guitarworld.comInterview: Art Alexakis Discusses Everclear's 20-Year History and New Album, 'Invisible Stars'http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-art-alexakis-discusses-everclears-20-year-history-and-new-album-invisible-stars
<!--paging_filter--><p>Although it has been six years since the release of Everclear's last studio album, <em><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/welcome-to-the-drama-club/id281813302">Welcome to the Drama Club</a></em>, the band -- now in action for 20 years -- are back with an album that explores new sonic horizons while sounding very much like vintage Everclear.</p>
<p>The 12-song album, <em>Invisible Stars</em>, was released June 26 by Entertainment One (Buy it on <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/invisible-stars/id532654831">iTunes</a>). </p>
<p>Everclear will hit the road Thursday, June 28, as part of the <a href="http://www.everclearonline.com/">Summerland Tour</a> with Lit, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms and Marcy Playground. </p>
<p>Below, frontman Art Alexakis, who recently moved from Portland to Los Angeles with his wife and youngest daughter, reflects on his shifts from punk rock to pop-driven hooks to the big-sounding guitars on <em>Invisible Stars</em>. He also discusses the music industry, his writing process and life during the six-year-gap between albums.</p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: Everclear have been around for 20 years. How does <em>Invisible Stars</em> reflect the band’s growth since its foundation in the early '90s?</strong></p>
<p>I think that’s a good question. I think it’s mostly in the lyrics and the way I sing. Everclear, as you said, started in 1992. I started it with a couple of guys, and we worked on it for a couple of months. They lived in Seattle and I lived in Portland, so it was doable. I found these other guys in Portland and started working with the band during the summer, and it was just one of those things — by the time the guys started showing up in the videos in the '90s, that was like the third or fourth version of the band. I’ve got two guys now who have been in the band for almost 10 years. </p>
<p>How the band has evolved is how my lyrics have evolved. I think the music has kind of run the gamut from really loud and noisy punk rock to more produced pop, to where we are now, which is honed in production with big guitars and different textures we’ve brought in — a lot of vintage-sounding synthesizers from the old Devo days. That’s the stuff I grew up loving, and I love the way [the synthesizers] cut through big guitars. </p>
<p>So we are kind of old school in some ways and kind of contemporized in some ways. I think the lyrics are the main place. I think they’ve grown up with me, you know? I’m a 50-year-old guy making music for over 20 years. I’ve been writing songs since I was 20, so it’s really been 30 years, and it’s always been personal, but I’ve always told stories.</p>
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<p><strong>Since most of the evolution can be found in your lyrics, and given your involvement in political activism, are any of the songs on <em>Invisible Stars</em> related to the upcoming election?</strong></p>
<p>Definitely. I’d say “Jackie Robinson” is political; I think “The Golden Rule” is political, “Aces” is political — I just don’t like reality TV, even though I get the addiction, right? I get when people sit down and it’s just a train wreck. It’s like drawing a line — I don’t pick up glasses of wine to taste them, because as of last week, I’ve been sober twenty-three years, and I just don’t go there. It’s the same thing with reality TV, and I’m always giving my wife crap about it, because I’ll come in from the kitchen and she’ll be watching <em>The Kardashians</em> [laughs]. I get it. I just intellectually hate it. </p>
<p>Are they political songs? I think they’re all kind of political — definitely “Tiger in a Burning Tree.” Especially in that song, I think there’s a prevalent attitude out there. It’s something more conservative, like it’s a doctrine without putting oneself in the other guy’s shoes — people are not putting themselves in the other guys’ shoes, and they’re not imagining worst case scenarios. They’re just going on the road, crashing and burning with a Paul Ryan mentality, and it’s easy to do when you’re an employed white guy. </p>
<p>What are you going to do when you’re in a place where there’s nowhere to go? It will come. It comes for everybody. The thing about tigers — tigers don’t like fire, and they don’t like going in trees, so a “Tiger in a Burning Tree” is not a happy tiger.</p>
<p><strong>You guys haven’t put out an album since 2006. Was <em>Invisible Stars</em> something you wrote to commemorate the band being around for 20 years, or was it just a coincidence?</strong></p>
<p>I don’t know. I purposefully just didn’t feel like making a record for a few years. I was just doing shows and trying to get my eldest daughter through high school and into college. We went through a lot a few years ago — had a new daughter, my mom died, bankruptcy, divorce — things that seem like bad things on the surface, but it’s really just life. I learned to adapt to it and figure out what I was going to do next. I just didn’t feel like writing. I didn’t have that fire in my belly to just pick up the guitar and write. </p>
<p>About two years ago, I started coming up with lines in my head and started writing songs again. I was just like, “Hey boys, I think we should make a record.” I started getting excited about it again. I needed a break. Being a musician, especially at the major label where you work for so long, it becomes a cycle. Write a record, make a record, tour. It’s just this cycle, and I don’t think there’s any life built into it with time to assimilate what’s going on in front of you and what’s going on in your head. I think taking some time off was a really good thing for me. Now I have the fire in my belly again. </p>
<p><strong>Given that you lost that fire for a bit, can it be argued that you were, in some ways, jaded by your career and success?</strong></p>
<p>You know, I was. I think that’s a really good question, and I think I was for a bit. It wasn’t a conscious thing like, “I’m going to take time.” It was more habitual and more like, “I don’t feel like doing this.” I’m not going to try and make a record that I don’t want to make. I feel like I’ve done that before. It never comes out well, so I just do something else — work on a book, a screenplay, just do work. </p>
<p>In 2010 I started writing again, and last year, my wife and I moved to LA with our 4-year-old. I lived in Portland for almost 20 years, and that’s where my eldest daughter went to college. I missed the sunshine. I grew up in LA. We moved back to California, and you’d think that being in a place where I feel safe and warm and there’s lots of sunshine; you’d think I’d get complacent. It was actually the opposite of that. It was an extreme kick in the ass. That’s how I knew what I wanted to do for this record.</p>
<p><strong>A lot of bands — especially those on this year’s Warped Tour — envision straight rock and roll to come back as the next big trend in the music scene, even so far as to metalcore bands presenting a slightly less heavy yet more classic rock element in their newer material. What is your take on the state of the rock industry?</strong></p>
<p>You mean those Cookie Monster vocal bands? I get where you’re going. I think that’s exciting. I didn’t know that. I was on Warped in 2010, and I saw a lot of these bands — the Asking Alexandrias and stuff like that. Some bands I really like, even though I don’t necessarily put their music on and rock out to it. It’s kind of like turning on madness. It scares my 4-year-old [laughs]. I think it’s more punk rock than any of the punk rock out there right now, but a lot of that music that I saw is cookie-cutter. </p>
<p>It’s like these kids grew up watching the Disney Channel and did all these choreographed moves and all of the sudden just, like [growls]. It’s like, where did that hit you as a good idea [laughs]? It’s funny because all these kids are rocking out, and I am standing there as an old man just laughing [laughs], but I like the idea of these kids getting back into rock and roll. It’s exciting, and it’s punk rock. Nothing is more punk rock than Little Richard. It’s overdriven — just this crazy gay black man from the South whose band is just smokin’, and you just can’t deny the power that comes out of the speakers when you put that on. It’s so punk rock. </p>
<p>To be honest, I really don’t know what the next big thing is going to be, but I wish it would fucking get here [laughs]. I really think that the radio, especially what they call “alternative radio,” really sounds like it did when Nirvana was around. It’s all cookie-cutter. It’s cyclical, and I just don’t know where it’s going to go.</p>
<p><strong>You guys are heading out on tour this summer with a few other nineties classics such as Lit, Sugar Ray and Marcy Playground. While the intent is to play mostly fan favorites from over the years, what kind of gear can we see you playing out of for the duration of the tour?</strong></p>
<p>My newest guitar is a Gretsch Penguin. It’s wonderful and totally versatile. I still fall back a lot on my Les Paul, and there is just no getting away from a Les Paul and a hot pickup. I play through a Tremoverb, and my sound processors — I don’t always use them, but on this tour I’m using a Line 6 M9. It’s basically a board where you can program different effects. </p>
<p>My guitar player, Davey [Dave French], is using a Line 6 M13 and is playing through everything from Les Pauls to his Tim Armstrong Gretsch. He plays all sorts of cool stuff. He usually plays through a Hughes &amp; Kettner or a Peavey 5150, so our sounds are very different and sound big as hell.</p>
<p><strong>Keep up with Everclear and the Summerland Tour at their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/everclear">Facebook page</a> and <a href="http://www.everclearonline.com/home.html"> official website.</a> Order <em>Invisible Stars</em> on iTunes<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/invisible-stars/id532654831"> here.</a></strong></p>
http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-art-alexakis-discusses-everclears-20-year-history-and-new-album-invisible-stars#commentsArt AlexakisEverclearStephanie CastorInterviewsFeaturesThu, 28 Jun 2012 09:34:32 +0000Stephanie Castor16149 at http://www.guitarworld.comExclusive: Pierce the Veil Premiere and Discuss New Song, “Bulls in the Bronx,” and New Album, 'Collide With the Sky'http://www.guitarworld.com/exclusive-pierce-veil-premiere-and-discuss-new-song-bulls-bronx-and-new-album-collide-sky
<!--paging_filter--><p>GuitarWorld.com has partnered with Fearless Records to bring you this exclusive premiere of "Bulls in the Bronx," a brand-new single by <a href="http://www.facebook.com/PierceTheVeil">Pierce the Veil</a>.</p>
<p>The new single, the Latin-themed followup to “King for a Day,” which was released earlier this month, has it all, from Mike Fuentes’ beefy percussion to his brother Vic Fuentes’ guttural growls and even — yes — a mariachi breakdown. </p>
<p>The San Diego-based PTV, who are considered one of this year’s bands to watch, will be releasing their third album, <em>Collide With the Sky,</em> July 17 on Fearless Records. In the meantime, the band are knee-deep in the 16th annual Warped Tour. </p>
<p>Below, Vic Fuentes lets us in on his music-filled childhood, how Fearless Records has played a role in the band's history and what’s in store for the duration of Warped Tour 2012. And be sure to check out the premiere of "Bulls in the Bronx" via the YouTube player below!</p>
<p><strong>[[ Buy "Bulls in the Bronx" now on <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bulls-in-the-bronx-single/id533593254">iTunes</a>. ]]</strong></p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: First of all, tell us a little about the story behind <em>Collide With the Sky</em>. What does the title allude to?</strong></p>
<p>I guess you could say the album artwork kind of ties in with a lot of the themes on the record. On the cover, there is a girl floating above this house that’s kind of falling apart. The idea is that the character is supposed to look like they’re either falling or floating or jumping — you kind of don’t know what’s happening, so the idea is that you’re sort of jumping from the ground or foundation that’s beneath you. It almost inspires a little sense of hope like, “Maybe they’re not falling.” It’s like finding a sense of hope around destruction and chaos. It comes down to trying to get away from things that are maybe breaking in your life.</p>
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<p><strong>It can be argued that Pierce the Veil are one of the most diverse bands out there; you even included a mariachi breakdown in “Bulls in the Bronx.” Can we attribute any of this to your childhood — growing up and learning how to play guitar? And what is it about where you come from that shows up in this song?</strong></p>
<p>Yeah, there is definitely a random Spanish break right smack in the middle of the song [laughs]. That definitely comes from a lot of influence from my dad. He’s the one who taught me how to play guitar and taught my brother [Mike] how to play drums. We’ve got a million guitars around our house. He’s kind of like a jazz-Spanish writer. So that [breakdown] definitely comes from him as well as just our love for throwing a small Spanish feel into our songs every once in a while.</p>
<p><strong>In what ways did the album and the writing process reflect the growth and integrity of the band, even dating back to when you and Mike were playing in Early Times and Before Today?</strong></p>
<p>My brother and I come from Southern California where there is a lot of punk rock. That’s where the band originated, and we still do a lot of fast punk stuff. Some of our songs can be kind of dance-y and random at times, but I think that we definitely keep that same vibe. I think we get inspired a lot by all of the bands we see, and I think we get inspired by the crowds. We talk to them and we see how crazy they go from the stage. So that all inspires us too. </p>
<p><strong>A lot of bands are given a hard time by their fans for signing to hardcore and punk powerhouse labels such a Rise Records and Fearless Records. Many people feel these labels have a specific mold for bands, thus creating a stigma and controversy within the scene even though bands like Pierce the Veil are constantly proving them wrong. What led to the decision for you guys to team up with Fearless versus sticking with Equal Vision Records?</strong></p>
<p>We were with Equal Vision for forever — eight years or something like that. I think we had just reached the end of our contract and just wanted to try something different to see what we would happen. I had kind of a cool opportunity with Fearless where our friend Chris — he is our A&amp;R guy at Fearless — about nine or 10 years ago, we were all just jamming and stuff. We were friends a long time ago. He started interning at record labels, and he was basically the whole reason why we got signed in the very beginning. He was the one who pushed our demo. He was like, “This is a local band. You’ve got to see these guys.” </p>
<p>Since then, he’s worked in the industry with a bunch of major labels, and eventually he decided that he wanted to work with an indie label, so he started working for Fearless. The first band that he wanted to work with was us because we were friends with him, so it’s kind of crazy — this whole thing has come to a giant full circle with us working with Fearless.</p>
<p><strong>As a guitarist, how did this experience of writing and recording <em>Collide With the Sky</em> emphasize your musical relationship with Tony [Perry]?</strong></p>
<p>This album was cool because we just set up our gear and a PA and mic’d everything up. We were able to play around with stuff. We definitely just did a whole lot of jamming, and it was the first time we had really done that for an album. Tony and I were working on parts together all the time, and I think that just having that environment kind of helped to shape the songs a little bit and helped us to write a ton of stuff on the spot as guitar players.</p>
<p><strong>What gear was used to write and record the album?</strong></p>
<p>The studio had everything we really needed, so we actually didn’t have to bring much of our own gear. The guitar sounds on the record are what we spent the most time. It was insane. Basically, the guys that we worked with collected as much gear over the years as they could and then ended up selling anything that wasn’t what they thought to be the best. So basically, we got to record with the best-sounding stuff they had. </p>
<p>We spent a ton of time on guitars, using everything from nylon strings to acoustics to baritone guitars. It was really cool. The producers worked really hard with us to get the sounded that we wanted. They’re not like rock star dudes. They are still just trying to make a name for themselves, and so are we. We’d spend hours on one little guitar part, using different amps and mics to get different tones and stuff. Literally, every guitar sound on the record was super thought out and exactly what we wanted.</p>
<p><strong>Based on the title alone, “Bulls in the Bronx” sounds like it would make for a very interesting music video. Do you guys have plans to do any videos for your recent singles?</strong></p>
<p>Definitely. We are going to do a video for the first single, “King for a Day.” I think we’re going to be shooting really soon — possibly on Warped Tour when we have a day off. As far as “Bulls in the Bronx,” we haven’t really discussed any ideas yet, but hopefully it’ll happen. I could definitely see something cool going on during that Spanish breakdown [laughs].</p>
<p><strong>Can we expect any guest appearances — not mentioning names — for your live set on Warped Tour?</strong></p>
<p>Yeah. Absolutely [laughs].</p>
<p><strong><em>Collide With the Sky</em> will be released July 17 on Fearless Records. <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/preorder/collide-with-the-sky/id536041352?ign-mpt=uo%3D2">Pre-order it now on iTunes.</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Keep up with Pierce the Veil at their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/PierceTheVeil">Facebook page</a> and <a href="http://tumblr.piercetheveil.net/">official website.</a></strong></p>
http://www.guitarworld.com/exclusive-pierce-veil-premiere-and-discuss-new-song-bulls-bronx-and-new-album-collide-sky#commentsexclusivePierce The VeilStephanie CastorVic FuentesInterviewsFeaturesTue, 26 Jun 2012 17:05:58 +0000Stephanie Castor16125 at http://www.guitarworld.comInterview: Early Morning Rebel’s Nathan Blumenfeld-James Discusses Fashion and Plans for Their Next Recordhttp://www.guitarworld.com/interview-early-morning-rebel-s-nathan-blumenfeld-james-discusses-fashion-and-plans-their-next-record
<!--paging_filter--><p><em>Guitar World</em> recently chatted with vocalist/guitarist Nathan Blumenfeld-James of Los Angeles’ Early Morning Rebel about the band’s increasing success in the intertwining industries of fashion and music. </p>
<p>EMR is known for their celebrity fan base and their elegant and equally chilling song, “Life Boat,” which has been featured on the hit series <em>Grey’s Anatomy</em>. </p>
<p>Since the interview, the band has released their second music video for their latest single, “Burn Us Down.” Find out what Blumenfeld-James had to say regarding the band’s musical philosophy, writing process and future plans for Early Morning Rebel.</p>
<p><strong>GUITAR WORLD: You’ve been playing music for quite some time. At what point did you recognize a defining sound and driving factor for Early Morning Rebel?</strong></p>
<p>It’s evolved over the course of my songwriting career, so to speak. It’s taken a lot of thought and kind of — focus — to have really been [specific] on one genre for me because I listen to so much different music, and I love so many different styles. When I started writing specifically for EMR I was trying to be very focused on a very particular sound, so I’d like to say it’s taken my whole songwriting career to get to a point where I’m doing something that’s very pinpointed. I’ve written in every genre out there, including country and hip-hop, so this has been really great for me to have focused on this sound.</p>
<p><strong>You guys are immensely inspired by fashion and tend to link it to your music. In what specific ways has the fashion industry influenced what you play?</strong></p>
<p>I really feel like fashion and art together really inspire and go hand-in-hand with music. They are all creative mediums and ways to express yourself, but particularly with fashion in the music world, and music in the fashion world—they really influence each other. Fashion plays a big part in a band’s perception and how they look, and music plays a huge factor in fashion, especially in catwalks when the designer shows their line. </p>
<p>When we were at London Fashion Week, we really saw the marriage between fashion and music really clearly. With fashion, the art and the craftsmanship of making the clothes tied really well into the art and craftsmanship of creating a record or song. We are just inspired by the fashion world and designers, and we really just want to be surrounded by that community. That’s kind of our aim.</p>
<p><strong>Do you endorse any specific names or brands?</strong></p>
<p>Not yet. We’re talking with a bunch of different designers and brands, and we’re kind of figuring out what’s going to be the best partnership for us, but we’re definitely close to making those partnerships.</p>
<p><strong>With your celebrity following in mind, what was your initial reaction to the feature of “Life Boat” on Grey’s Anatomy?</strong></p>
<p>It’s really an honor to have your music chosen for that show. Obviously, it’s a really important show when it comes to music, and they have great taste. They really feature the music in that show, and it really complements the scenes. They used our song really well, and it really dictated some of the vibes in that particular scene. The imagery was beautiful, and we’re just really grateful to be a part of it.</p>
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<p><strong>Do you think the scene embodied what the song is really about?</strong></p>
<p>I think it did. I think the music captured the vibe and the emotion. The lyrics weren’t necessarily super specific to what was going on in the scene, but as far as an overall vibe and emotional quality, it worked really well. The song could have definitely been associated with that scene, depending on how you interpreted it. It was actually during a surgery scene, and this woman was having a monologue—kind of a hopeless monologue with a hint of hope attached to it and a little bit of desperation. In that way, it really worked.</p>
<p><strong>With influences such as M83, Morrissey and The Beatles, your music comes out much more stripped and honest in songs such as “Life Boat,” yet with the potential for catchy remixes you can hear at a club just down the street. What would you say is your philosophy behind writing music? Do you strive for taste and simplicity rather than a showy quality?</strong></p>
<p>Yeah. My biggest goal is just to write a great song and be a great songwriter. I always say to myself before I start a song or go into the studio, “It’s really important for the song to work on its own,” even just with me on an acoustic guitar or an acoustic piano. If it can really stand on its own in that stripped down quality and you’re still compelled, then I think it merits the opportunity to take it to the full band and be recorded. In a song format, I feel like that’s the most important thing for me.</p>
<p><strong>What sort of gear does EMR use to produce such a lush sound in the songs that we’ve heard?</strong></p>
<p>We have our own studio and produce all of our own stuff. It really starts with great microphones and great preamps. As far as guitars go, we use really basic stuff, everything from American Fender Telecasters to a Gretsch hollowbody. We use a Dr. Z amp, a Fender Deville, and sometimes I use a reissue Twin Reverb. </p>
<p>As far as pedals go, we have a Holy Grail by Electro-Harmonix, a Line 6 delay, a few OCD distortion pedals, a couple overdrive pedals — we’ve noticed that the simpler we make it and less saturated with the digital stuff, the more lush and warm it sounds. It’s more authentic.</p>
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<p><strong>You guys just spent some time in London for Fashion Week. What can we expect in terms of North American tours in 2012?</strong></p>
<p>We’re doing some press in New York, and right now we’re really just solidifying the booking agents and the bands that we want to support or go on tour with in North America. Then we’re going to be in the UK again in the fall to do some touring and the next Fashion Week. We’re planning on being out on tour relatively soon.</p>
<p><strong>Most of your fans are very familiar with “Life Boat”—a darker song with a load of sincerity in not just the lyrics, but the instrumentals as well. In comparison to your single, what can you tell us about the album you’re working on?</strong></p>
<p>It’s really interesting in this band. Half of it is that sort of stripped down and raw quality we talked about, and some of it is our full band and has a more rock quality. It’s still that same kind of dark quality, but the next two singles that we have are going to be with the full band. We do have some acoustic versions of them and some videos that are coming out for them. We always try to maintain that raw energy, but these next two songs are going to have a bit more instrumentation and rock energy, which is always fun to do — especially live when you can plug in your amp and really put on a show. </p>
<p>We have some other stuff coming down the pipe which we are actually in the studio doing that have some more of that sparse energy. There should be a good balance between the ballads and the energy mixed with the full rock sound. We’re just putting on the final touches and making sure all of the ideas are down before we choose exactly what is going to be on the record.</p>
<p><strong>Have you guys decided on a tentative time frame for when you’ll be releasing your album?</strong></p>
<p>Yeah! We’re looking at September 2012 right now. There will probably be a full-length — a kind of extended EP that will be out in the fall.</p>
<p><em>Visit Early Morning Rebel’s <a href="http://www.earlymorningrebel.com/">official website</a> for more information regarding upcoming releases and tour dates.</em></p>
http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-early-morning-rebel-s-nathan-blumenfeld-james-discusses-fashion-and-plans-their-next-record#commentsEarly Morning RebelNathan Blumenfeld-JamesStephanie CastorInterviewsFeaturesWed, 23 May 2012 16:13:33 +0000Stephanie Castor15814 at http://www.guitarworld.com